The present invention relates to a system to protect plants and trees, especially fruit trees, such as orange trees, with a goal hereof to expand the growing areas to those subject to freezing temperatures. Typically, orange groves, at least in the southeastern states of the U.S., have been restricted to the midstate regions of Florida, where freezing temperatures are seldom encountered. Northern Florida, and neighboring states, too often experience occasional freezing temperatures for sufficient times that may severely damage or destroy orange trees, particularly at the early stages in the growing process.
Freeze damage to trunked plants, especially orange trees, is a problem for which a multitude of solutions have been proposed over the years. For example, it has been proposed to cover the trees with tents, canvas, for instance, to protect them from the freezing cold. This practice has proven to be generally impractical. It has also been proposed to use wind machines to stir up the air and mix the lower stratified cold air with warmer air at higher levels. This method is very expensive and has had mixed results. Another practice proposed is to heat the groves of orange trees to avoid frost damage. Heating has most often been done by the use of smudge pots which form a heavy screen of dense black smoke to protect the trees. However, smudge pots are expensive to operate, ecologically offensive and often ineffective, especially in the presence of even mild winds. Attempts have also been made to protect the trees by spraying heated or unheated water on the trees during periods of low temperatures, another method proven to be highly ineffective.
The prior art, as generally reviewed above, has long recognized the need for protecting orange trees, particularly new and young plants and trees, in certain cold environments. Certain solutions for protecting individual plants and trees, in the form of heat conducting devices and covering enclosures, for such needs, are reflected in the following U.S. Patents:
a.) U.S. Pat. No. 2,014,175, to Hart, discloses a flexible covering system including a pair of crossing U-shaped members, the free ends of which are anchored in the ground about the plant, an encircling ring holding the U-shaped members together, and a flexible cover positioned over the assembly to provide protection to the plant.
b.) U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,055, to Day, teaches a system for servicing trunked plants, such as citrus trees, in which water, in heated or unheated form is delivered by a manifold system to the base of each tree, conducted upwardly in a hose helically upwardly encircling the tree to a collar encircling the tree at an intermediate location on the trunk. The water is discharged from a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings in the collar and allowed to flow by gravity back down the trunk. In unheated form, the water irrigates and nourishes the tree trunk. In heated form, the water warms the tree trunk and protects the tree trunk from frost damage. The heated tree trunk and heated water will also heat the air next to the tree trunk. This heated air will rise upward and outward to heat some major branches and foliage beyond the tree trunk area.
c.) U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,465, to Lilly, is directed to a device for protecting plants, especially citrus trees, from damage resulting from freezing temperatures. A heat conducting device, which derives its heat from circulating water, is placed adjacent a tree trunk. The heat conducting device and the tree trunk are placed within a thermal barrier and the top of the thermal barrier is sealed around the tree trunk to define an air space thereabout. Water is circulated through the heat conducting device and heat is supplied to the air space. Water leaving the heat conducting device may be poured onto the ground or sprayed over the tree to provide additional protection to the plants during a freeze.
d.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,229, to Thomasson et al., relates to a self-supporting thermally-protective plant enclosure that includes a plurality of elongated hollow closure bodies each having a pair of outer and inner transparent walls. The outer and inner wall are each peripherally interconnected by a base, a top and a pair of opposite sides extending upwardly from the base to the top. Each closure body is closed along the opposite sides and base and is open at least through a portion of the top, defining an internal cavity in the closure body capable of receiving and holding a quantity of fluid therein. The closure bodies are positioned in side-by-side relation and are coupled one closure body to the next along the opposite sides thereof so as to form the plant enclosure with an open top and bottom, and an annular configuration surrounding a protective plant growth chamber. The plant enclosure also includes features for releasably coupling the closure bodies together along adjacent pairs of opposite sides of closure bodies so as to permit opening and closing of the plant enclosure at the opposite sides of the closure bodies of the plant enclosure.
e.) U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,953, to Morgan, discloses a collapsible protective plant cover comprising a pair of vertically spaced and coaxial support rings of spring steel. A tubular wall made of highly flexible sheeting is connected between the rings for protection from weather and animals. The tubular wall is sized for surrounding a plant with sufficient spacing therefrom. The top ring is spanned by a flexible top sheet. A small handle is attached across a small central hole on the top sheet. A stake is inserted into the ground near the center of the plant. The handle is supported on a hook positioned above the plant on the stake. The cover is entirely supported by the stake. The cover is easily removed from the plant and collapsed by twisting and coiling the rings on themselves.
The foregoing prior art recognize two approaches to providing winterizing protection to plants and trees, specifically in the form of an enclosure, or in intimate flowing water, but none offer an economic solution with a system that effectively protects such plants and trees during freezing spells. The manner by which the present invention achieves the goals of the invention will become clearer in the description which follows.